[Music]
hello I'm Emma
from English one of the most common
grammar mistakes that English learners
make is to do with the subject verb
agreement what's that it's as simple as
it sounds the subject and the verb in
English sentences must agree they must
match we go to the beach on Saturdays if
the subject is plural you need to use a
plural verb form he goes to the beach
on Saturdays he goes the subject is
singular so you need to use a singular
verb form and this is true most of the
time now you might be thinking that you
understand subject verb agreement it's
simple it's easy right
but it's the first thing that many
English learners forget but don't worry
there are some simple standard rules
that you can use to help you but some
aspects of singular and plural noun
usage make this a little more complex so
that's why I'm going to teach you some
tips to master subject verb agreement in
English before we start I want to
highlight that there are two main areas
where subject verb agreement can cause
you problems the first is in your
writing and it's important to know the
subject verb agreement rules and how to
use them correctly so that your English
writing is grammatically correct the
other is your speaking skills now
perhaps you feel confident that you know
how to match verbs to their subject but
the challenge is making that clear when
you're speaking and sometimes you might
not even know this is a problem for you
the final consonant sounds are so
important too
communicating clearly but for many
English learners it's not that easy to
do
pronouncing the difference between do
and does now if this sounds like you
then I want you to try and practice with
me out loud during this lesson make sure
you're hitting those final consonant
sounds ok let's begin in the present
tense nouns and verbs agree in opposite
ways when your subject is plural you
usually add s to show that it's plural
right car becomes cars baby becomes
babies but when your subject is plural
you do not add an S to your verb the
cars look expensive our noun cars is
plural cars now our verb agrees with our
subject the cars look expensive now
compare this to the car looks expensive
when our noun is singular our verb needs
to include an S in these examples the
noun and the verb agree in opposite ways
but I can already hear you saying what
about if your subject is I or you their
singular subjects but they don't use the
singular verb form yes but they're an
exception to the rule subject verb
agreement rules are different when your
subject is in the third-person singular
so that's when your subject is a he a
she or an it the subjects I and you are
different even though they're also
singular nouns they take the plural form
of the verb and you just need to
remember that I like to go swimming she
likes to go swimming both of these sub
our singular but the verb forms are
different now if there is an auxilary
verb a helping verb in your sentence
like do or does in the present simple or
am is are was were in the continuous
tenses or have or has in the perfect
tenses then you need to think about your
subject verb agreement because the
auxiliary verb becomes the agreeing verb
the verb that agrees with the subject
the dogs don't want it the dog doesn't
want it we're going to the beach he's
going to the beach Anna and Tony have
been driving for hours Anna has been
driving for hours now modal verbs like
may could will must should they're also
auxiliary verbs they help the main verb
in the sentence but the subject verb
agreement rules are different with modal
auxiliary verbs the verb following a
modal verb is never in the S form it's
always in the infinitive form my friends
might come my friend might come not my
friend might come you should come
he should come not he should come now
English sentences are not always this
simple are they as you add more
information to your sentences they
become more complex and it might be
difficult to know whether your noun is
singular or plural but just remember
that the same structure and rules apply
you need to pay close attention to where
your subject is and if it's singular or
plural because your verb must always
match the subject regardless of the
words that come in between the verb and
the subject it must always match do you
know what an indefinite pronoun is
they're words like everybody nobody
anybody someone usually indefinite
pronouns take singular verbs everybody
wants to be loved nobody likes to be
left out now the subject of English
sentences can be a little more
complicated with compound subjects group
nouns and relative clauses look at this
sentence my mum is happy for me my mum
and dad are proud of me too singular
subjects joined by aunt means that your
subject becomes plural and now your verb
needs to show this it's the same as
saying that they are proud of me so we
can say that two or more singular
subjects joined with aunt become a
plural subject and they need a plural
verb now look at this sentence Peter or
Paul is coming now in this sentence the
two singular subjects are treated as a
singular subject because or gives us an
option we're not saying both it's one
singular noun or the other not both of
them together we would say Peter and
Paul are coming or Peter or Paul is
coming playing football is fun now the
same rule applies for jaren's and gerund
phrases when gerunds are the subject
they take this
singular form of the verb waiting for
the bus is annoying but when they're
linked by and they also take the plural
form meeting friends after work and
going to the beach are my favorite
things about living here okay so what
about group nouns single nouns that are
actually groups of people or things club
team company family crowd class they can
be either singular or plural depending
on the meaning of an individual sentence
this is because they can describe the
individuals in the group and since
there's more than one
it must be plural but it's also possible
to use these nouns as a single group
when you're referring to the group as a
whole then they're singular so they can
be a little tricky for example the team
is organizing the event so this is
referring to just the single unit it's a
singular noun so we need to use the
singular verb the team are meeting today
so the members of the club are meeting
together using the plural form of the
verb the teams are meeting today so when
used plural e this means that there are
many of the individual group nouns there
are more than one team or family or a
club and don't forget that some nouns
look like plural nouns but they take a
singular form for example news it seems
plural because of the S but we need to
treat it as a singular noun
you need a singular verb the news is
interesting of course any uncountable
noun is treated this way too
so don't say the furnitures are
comfortable say the furniture is
comfortable okay let's keep going
we're getting a little more complex now
sometimes the subject is tricky to find
in English sentences it's not always
before the noun subjects and verbs
change positions in English questions so
you need to make sure you identify which
is the subject before you choose the
verb form what are the steps we need to
follow in this sentence the steps are
the subject and the verb is our because
it's plural there are many plants in
your garden there is a plant in the
bathroom look at this sentence the car
which belongs to my brother is not very
clean relative clauses can make it
difficult to locate the subject and a
verb noun phrases also make this
difficult where a group of words act as
a noun the new features of the car are
impressive the features are the subject
it's plural so it needs a plural verb
the more complex that your sentence
becomes the harder you need to look for
the subject and the verb and make sure
that they agree whoo that was exhausting
wasn't it you might need to go for a
walk now to let all of that sink in or
watch again I'm sure that some of this
lesson was good revision for you but
perhaps you learned a few new things
about subject verb agreement too
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me to make in the future and keep
watching this playlist here will help
you to practice your pronunciation and
more about silent letters in English and
in this lesson you'll be able to try out
one of my English imitation lessons for
free so I'll see you next week for
another English lesson bye for now